Method of and means for heating metal articles.



1'. B. CLARKE. METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR HEATING METAL ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2. 1918.

1,300,347. Patented Apr. 15, 1919. 7 8 FIG 1 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

WITNESSES I. B. CLARKE.

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR HEATING METAL ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 2. 1918.

1,300,347. Patented Apr. 15, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

"'1 II M II I H T l I L g;

JAMES B, CLARKE, WOODLAWIF, PENNSYLVANIA.

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR nnermemn'rn. ARTICLES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES siding at Woodlawn, in the county of Beaverand State of Pennsylvania, a citizen of the United States, have inventedor discovered certain new and useful Improvements in Methods of andMeans for Heating Metal Articles,oof which improvements the following isa specification.

My invention relates to methods of and means for heating metal billets,bars or blanks prior to rolling or otherwise treating them in a heatedcondition.

The heating of such articles is frequently effected bycontinuous heatingfurnaces whi comprise elongate heating chambers pro 'ded at one end witha charging and at the ther end with a discharging opening,

the illets being caused to enter the charg g opening and to move slowlythrough.

111 the heating chamber until they reach the discharge opening, throughwhich they are removed and passed to the rolls. V

For heatingbillets in such furnaces the present practlce is to introduceair and a combustible gas into the discharge end of the furnace and toeffect combustion at such end, the gases resulting from the combus- Inthe practical operation of continuous heating furnaces of the characterdescribed,

it has been found to be impossible to effect complete combustionjof [thegases in the high heating zone at the discharge end of the furnace; and.my invention proceeds upon my discovery that, by introducing air intothe heating chamber at a point intermediate the charging and dischargingends of the furnace, complete combustion of the gases may be effected,and that in consequence thereof the portion of the furnace to the rearof the heating zone may be maintained at a much higher temperature thanheretofore possible with the result that the output of the furnace maybe materially increased,

B. re-

illustrated my invention in its adaptability to two specific types ofcontinuous heating furnaces.

Figure 1 is a plan/view of one type of furnace; Fig. '2 a verticalsectional view taken on the line II.II, .Fi 1; Fig. 3 a

side view of the furnace of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 a

combined plan and horizontal sectional view of a second type of furnace,the plane of view of the half of the furnace shown in section beingindicated by the line IVIV, Fig. 5; and Fig. 5 a vertical sectional viewof the furnace of Fig. 4; the plane of view being indicated by the lineV-'V, Fig. 4.

' Having reference first to the furnace of Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the heatingchamberl is formed by and between a downwardly in..

clined floor 2,' an arched topv 3, end walls 4 and 5 and side walls 6and 7. Billets to be heated are, by means of a suitable ram 8, pushedinto the furnace through a charging opening 9 formed. in-the rea'r endwall 5;

are then caused to gradually slide down the inclined floor 2; and, whenproperly heated,

are removed from the furnace through a discharge opening 10 formed inthe side walls 7 at the front or discharging end" of the furnace. Airand gas under suitable pressure are introduced through a passageway 11Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr, 15 1919.

Application filed February-2, 1918 Serial No. 215,188.

into the heating chamber at the discharge end of the mace, combustiontaking place immediately upon the entrance of such gases, and the heatedgases resulting from such combustion being conducted back-' wardlythrough the heating chamber to a passageway 12 at the charging end ofthe furnace. Through this passageway the gases are carried downwardly toa stack or other means of disposal not shown herein.

For introducing air into the heating chamber for the purpose statedabove, I preferably provide the top 3 of the heating chamber with aplurality of rows of air conduits 13, which incline downwardly andrearwardly so that the streams of air are projected into theheating'chamber in the same general direction as the rearward flow ofgases through it. It will be observed that therows of. conduits extendtransversely of the heating chamber from one I side to the other. Whileany desired numthree' rows are shown herein.

ber of rows of conduits may be provided (in some instances one maybesuflicient),

For supplying air to these conduits, they are con- 1 nected to headers14 and 15, which in turn proper air pressure. The hea been found thatthe temperature of the rear are connected to a conduit 16 leading to asuitable fan or blower 17 for enerating the ders 14 and 15 and theconduit 16 lying immediately above the top 3 of the heating chamber, theair entering such chamber will become preliminarily heated. In additionto the transverse rows of. air conduits, several conduits 18 may extendthrough the sidewalls 6 and 7 of the heating chamber.

The essential difference between the furnace of Figs. 1, 2 and 3 andthat of Figs. '4

and 5 is that in the latter the billets to be heated are supported on askeleton flooror skids 19, and combustion ismaintained below as well asabove such support. Below the support 19 a mixture of air andcombustible gases enter the heating chamber through a passageway 20,while above such support such gases enter throu h a passageway 21. Thegases resulting rom combustion both above and below the. support areconducted rearwardlytoward the charging end of the furnace and flowdownwardly through a passageway 22. The furnace of Figs. 4 and 5 alsodiffers from that of Figs 1, 2 and 3 in that the discharge opening 23 isthrought the end wall 24 of the'heating.

chamber. Y

The conduits for supplying air to the heating chamber at a pointintermediate of the chamber of the furnace, at a position or positionsto the rear of the normal-high heating zone,.to eflect further andcomplete combustion of the gases entering the discharge end of thefurnace. In actual operation it has part of the heating chamber may bematerially raised b the admission of air in the ,manner descri ed, withthe result that the billets or other articles to be heated reach thehigh heating zone of the chamber at a higher tem erature than has beenheretofore possible. ccordingly, the time required to heat a billet issubstantially reduced and the output of' the furnace proportionatelyincreased. Also it becomes unnecessary to Y maintain the high heatingzone at the high temperature which has heretofore been required, and asa consequence thereof the furnace lining will deteriorate or burn outless rapidly than it usually does. It will be ob-- served of myinvention that the increased output of the furnace is efiected withoutincreasing thesupply of fuel, the resulting economy being obvious.

- According to the patent statutes, I hav described the principle andmodeof operation of my invention, together with the improvements infurnace construction which I now consider to represent the bestembodiment thereof. However, I desire to have it understood that, withinthe scope of the appended claims, my invention may be prac-.

tiscd otherwise than as herein specifically described and shown.

- I claim as my invention: I

1. A ste in the fabrication-of metal articlesas, or example, the rollingof pipeskelpthe method herein described of heatingabody of metalpreparatory toshaping, such method consisting in causing the body toadvance through a flame moving in opposite direction and nourishedintermediate its length by fresh supplies of oxygen.

2. The method herein described of reheating asteel 'billet whichconsists in causing the billet to traverse a flame nourishedintermediate its length by fresh supplies of oxygen in a directionopposite to that in which the flame advances.

3. In a continuous heating furnace, the combination of a heating chamberhaving a charging opening at one end and a discharging opening at theother end means for introducing air and a combustible gas into thedischarging end of said chamber, means'for removing the products ofcombustion from the chamber at the charging end thereof, a plurality ofrows of conduits disposed transversely of the chamber and rojectindownwardly and rearwardly t rough e roof thereof, and means .forprojecting air through said conduits.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

JAMES B. CLARKE.

Witnesses:

T. M. GIRDLER, O. E. GRENBY.

